Saturday, Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
Isaiah 6:1–6
Isaiah’s vision of God is one of the most unforgettable passages in the Bible.
It has entered songs. It has inspired poetry. It has shaped Christian liturgy. It has moved painters, writers, and theologians.
Above all, it has given us a glimpse of God’s holiness.
The year was 734 BC.
Amos and Hosea were trying to save the northern kingdom of Israel from destruction.
But their call to repentance fell on deaf ears.
At the same time, far away in China, the Zhou dynasty was in power,
giving the world writing, money, and chopsticks,
and preparing the soil for some of China’s greatest religious and philosophical minds:
Laozi, Confucius, and Sunzi.
Yet in the midst of all these events,
what happened in the Jerusalem temple
surpassed everything taking place on the stage of world history.
Isaiah says:
“I saw the Lord.”
The Lord told Moses that no one could see His face and remain alive.
The Gospel of John says:
“No one has ever seen God.”
So Isaiah’s words remain surrounded by mystery.
He saw the Lord seated on a throne.
He saw the train of His robe filling the temple.
He saw the seraphim.
He heard their cry:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
All the earth is full of His glory.”
These words entered the Mass as the Sanctus.
We sing them often.
Perhaps too often.
We know the words so well that we may no longer tremble before them.
But Isaiah trembled.
The thresholds shook. The house was filled with smoke. And the prophet cried:
“Woe is me! I am lost.”
Before the Holy One, Isaiah saw himself truthfully:
“I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.”
God’s holiness revealed Isaiah’s sin.
God’s light revealed the darkness of his people.
This is what a true encounter with God does.
It wounds in order to heal.
It frightens, and at the same time it attracts.
Theology sometimes calls this mystery:
mysterium tremendum et fascinans.
A mystery that terrifies.
And a mystery that fascinates.
An encounter with the Lord makes us tremble.
But it also attracts us.
Isaiah thought he was a dead man walking.
And yet, he could not take his eyes off the vision.
A few centuries later,
Greece would give the world its philosophy.
Rome would give the world its law.
India would give the world Buddhism.
China would give the world Taoism.
But none of these can replace the vision of Isaiah.
Because Isaiah gives us a desire for something deeper:
a real encounter with the living God,
an encounter that frightens, purifies, and transforms.
We should be forever grateful to the prophet
for sharing with us his personal encounter with God,
an encounter that opened a whole new chapter in his life.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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